...a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:24
this is a continuation of my old blog, and where i ramble about daily struggles, momentary and ongoing delights, and the persistence of God's faithfulness.

November 14, 2006

bump in the night

christopher and i are housesitting a friend's house for about a week. it's actually really fun b/c the house is HUGE and nice and the bed is really comfortable (haven't really been sleeping well in our bed lately, so it's nice to sleep solidly through the night!!!) and it's really close to where my parents live (free meals!...i mean good company!!) :) we've had quite a few adventures in our two days of staying there. and by "quite a few", i do mean quite a few.

our first evening was absolutely amazing since our friend and his "buddy that he flirts with" (teehee!) were both there and made dinner for the four of us. not only was the food delcious, the company was really fun. we built a fire, ate the delicious dessert, and just hanged...hung...um...talked and stuff. the good part was that they didn't leave until after 10, so we got to hang out for a long time. the bad part was that they didn't leave until after 10, which put chris and i in bed really late. bummer. and neither of us sleep well the first night in a new place, so we woke up several times in the night because of that. and when that wasn't waking us up, the stinking loud air vents were waking us up. seriously! i was between sleep and awake and was listening to the whistling vents, imagining that a tornado had come through and we were "up inside the cyclone"!! it was pretty convincing. so there was all that, on top of the fact it was freezing cold in the bedroom, and that i was abruptly awakened at 3am by christopher reacting to his bad dream, which caused me to discover my sick tummy, causing me to live in the bathroom for about a half hour and to keep the trash can near by and lie awake until 5am (nathan - it was NOT your cooking, trust me - just a little bug i'm still battling...) which produced a very, very "adventurous" night's sleep.

our second evening was a little calmer with leftovers for dinner, another fire in the genious fireplace (it uses real logs but has gas flames to get it going - brilliant!), me typing on my slow-going novel, and chris running to the store for various items. the most exciting event of the night was me setting the alarm off and sprinting faster than i ever have into the kitchen to type in the code that i prayed would work...it did, halleluia. then we gloriously discovered (thank you nathan!!) that the reason the vents were so loud was because they were closed, so we opened them to be beautifully quiet. and since it was so cold the night before, we upped the temp a few degrees, causing chris to wake up around 1am and turn the fan on...too hot. oh well. but we both slept beautifully (thank you, Lord...seriously) then the alarm clock went off at 6am. and that's when the even more thrilling adventure began.

the alarm clock was snoozing and so were we when we heard it. *BUMP* - loud and solid, seemingly coming from downstairs. i looked at chris through the darkness, he sleepily looked back, but we both continued snoozing. the alarm clock went off again and i snoozed it again. then a noise filled the room. i said, leaning up on my elbows, "whoa, is that the air?" confused b/c i didn't remember it being that loud the night before. chris replied, "yeah..." and we laid back down. about 5 or 10 seconds later, the noise abruptly stopped and sounded strangly familiar. we both sat straight up in bed in unison as if it had been rehearsed or as if we were suddenly in a musical where everyone just happens to know the same song and dance. anyway, i said "are you sure?!" and he looked at me and said, "that sounded like the water going off..." indeed, it did. we must have sat in bed for ten minutes before moving or saying anything, but we both knew what the other was thinking. i got up and locked the bedroom door. my only comfort was the fact that the alarm was set and on and working. the next half hour or so was spent with me staying on the bed whispering "where are you going?!" to chris when he would walk toward the door, and him replying in a whisper "i'm just going to listen!" chris was over it by then and anxious to get ready since it was already past 6:30. i, on the other hand, had already written an entire speech and choreographed an entire fight scene that i would perform on the intruder if need be. i had imagined everything possible - my imagination is ridiculous in situations like this - and chris stated simply "well, if they're running water, it must be the wet bandits!" it made me laugh!

it turned out to be nothing, i suppose, since we found nothing this morning. theories are: the bump was something the dogs were doing outside, or possibly the heating unit shutting off, or maybe the house settling. the running water sound was the ice maker filling up, or a toilet running, or the water heater busting. it doesn't really matter (except we are going to check the water heater tonight...) but as i laid there in bed thinking someone was downstairs waiting for us, i realized how incredibly blessed we are (those who know Him) to have a God who actually cares about our anxious thoughts, and we have nothing to fear, even if it's death, because He really does have good plans for our lives. and i was sitting there asking him to take all my anxious thoughts, to search me and know me, since He's really smart. and it's really real, too. it's not just some made up concept that this idea exists that some people can abide by or think about or use to gain esteem - God really does offer peace and love and restoration and all that good stuff - for what they really, really mean, too - through Jesus for those who believe! it's really awesome, and i take it for granted so often. anyway, it's kind of neat that a freaky moment where i think all my worst nightmares are coming true turns into a little private worship service. i wouldn't be surprised if God just orchestrated that all by Himself. *wink wink*

About Me

How beautiful, then, the marriage of two Christians, two who are one in hope, one in desire, one in the way of life they follow, one in the religion they practice.

They are as brother and sister, both servants of the same Master. Nothing divides them, either in flesh or in Spirit. They are in very truth, two in one flesh; and where there is but one flesh there is also but one spirit.

They pray together, they worship together, they fast together; instructing one another, encouraging one another, strengthening one another.

Side by side they face difficulties and persecution, share their consolations. They have no secrets from one another, they never shun each other's company; they never bring sorrow to each other's hearts. Psalms and hymns they sing to one another.
Hearing and seeing this, Christ rejoices. To such as these He gives His peace. Where there are two together, there also He is present, and where He is, there evil is not.

No one has ever seen God; but if we LOVE one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. I John 4:12